Leagan Béarla thíos/English version follows
‘Tá sé dochreidte go bhfuil leath de bhuiséad reatha Údarás na Gaeltachta dhá chaitheamh ar iar-fhostaithe’, dar leis an Seanadóir Trevor Ó Clochartaigh.
Tháinig an t-eolas seo chun solais ag comhchoiste Oireachtais inniu, nuair a bhí na hAirí Jimmy Deenihan agus Dinny McGinley ag freagairt ceisteanna maidir le caiteachas na Roinne Ealaíon, Oidhreachta & Gaeltachta. I bhfreagra don Seanadóir as Gaillimh Thiar dhearbhaigh an tAire Stáit, as buiséad reatha de €9.8m i 2012 gur caitheadh €4.3m ar íocaíochtaí pinsin d’iarfhostaithe.
'‘Beag nar thit mé don chathaoir nuair a chuala mé go bhfuil beagnach leath don chaiteachas reatha ag dul ar íocaíochtaí do 136 duine nach bhfuil ag obair san Údarás níos mó. Ardaíonn sé seo ceisteanna go leor maidir le cé na rátaí pinsin atá dhá íoc, cé dó agus cé mhéad eagras Stáit eile a bhfuil sé seo ag tarlú ann. Cuireann sé na buiséad as riocht. Ní iontas nach bhfuil an tÚdarás ábalta feidhmiú níos éifeachtaí. Tá an Rialtas ag rá go bhfuil €9.8m dhá chaitheamh ar ghnóthaí Gaeltachta faoin Údarás, ach le fírinne níl dhá chaitheamh ach tuairim leath dó sin. Beidh mé ag lorg briseadh sios níos cruinne ar an gcaiteachas ollmhór seo’, a deir Ó Clochartaigh.
‘Tagann seo sa bhreis ar an eolas a tugadh gur déanadh gearradh siar 68% ar an gcaiteachas ar ghnóthaí Gaeltachta & oileánda faoin Roinn idir 2008 agus 2012. Tá seo éagóireach dar liom, mar nár gearradh siar buiséid eile ar an ráta ceanna. Ní féidir glacadh le tuilleadh ciorruithe san earnáil seo i bhfianaise an eolas seo’, a deir Seanadóir Shinn Féin, ‘mar go bhfuil ualach go leor dhá n-iompar ag pobal na Gaeilge & na Gaeltachta as ucht peacaí na mbainceirí’.
D’iarr an Seanadóir freisin ar na hAirí dearbhú go gcoinneofaí seirbhís aerthaisteal chuig oileáin Árainn, ach ní dhéanfaidís sin ach an oiread. ‘Dúirt siad freisin go bhfuil €3m dhá chaitheamh ar an Scéim Tacaíochta Teaghlaigh, ach is léir nach bhfuil seo fíor mar nach bhfuil ach 300 duine tar éis glacadh leis na pacáisti eolais a chuirtear ar fáil faoin scéim agus go bhfuiltear ag íoc as scéimeanna agus tograí eile as an gciste seo agus ag cur ciorruithe i bhfolach’, dar leis an gClochartach.
‘Tá an Rialtas seo ag déanamh dochar as cuímse do shaol agus todhchaí na Gaeltachta leis na ciorruithe atá siad ag déanamh ar na buiséid. Bíonn finscéalta dhá chraobhscaoileadh go bhfuil flúirse airgid dhá chaitheamh ar an nGaeltacht, ach léiríonn an t-eolas seo nach bhfuil an t-airgead atá ar fáil ag dul chomh fada leis na pobail ina dteastaíonn sé’, a deir Trevor Ó Clochartaigh.
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‘It is quite incredible that half of the current budget of Údarás na Gaeltachta is being spent on former employees’, according to Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh.
The information came to light at an Oireachtas Joint committee where Ministers Jimmy Deenihan and Dinny McGinley were answering questions about expenditure in the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. In his answer to the Galway West Senator the Minister of State confirmed that from a current budget of €9.8m in 2012 that €4.3m was spent on pension payments to former employees.
‘I nearly fell off the chair when I heard that almost half the current expenditure goes on pension payments to 136 people who are no longer employed by the organisation. This raises serious questions regarding the levels of monies being paid, who is receiving them and how many other State organisations are in a similar situation. This totally distorts the budget. Small wonder that the Údarás is not able to function more effectively. The Government are telling us that €9.8m is being spent on Gaeltacht affairs under the auspices of the Údarás, but in reality only half of that is being spent. I will be looking for a more detailed breakdown of this huge expenditure’, says Ó Clochartaigh.
‘This comes on foot of the other revelations at the committee that cutbacks of 68% have been made to the Gaeltacht and Islands budgets in the Department between 2008 and 2012. This is inequitable, I believe, because other budgets were not cut to the same extent. We cannot accept any further cuts in these areas in light of this information’, says the Sinn Féin Senator, ‘because Irish speakers and Gaeltacht residents have already shouldered their fair share of the burden for the sins of the bankers’.
The Senator also called on the Ministers to confirm that they would not cut the air service to the Aran islands, but they would not do that’. ‘They also said that €3m is being spent on the new Family Support Programme, even though only 300 support packs for the scheme have been sent out. Under closer scrutiny it became apparent that other projects are being funded from this budget and that the Government is using sleight of hand to hide cutbacks’, says Ó Clochartaigh.
‘This Government is doing untold damage to the life and future of the Gaeltacht with the cutbacks they are imposing. There are so many urban myths about the levels of grant aid being spent in the Gaeltacht, but this information shows that this is not the case and that the monies in question are not filtering down to the communities that need them to survive’,says Trevor Ó Clochartaigh.
‘Tá sé dochreidte go bhfuil leath de bhuiséad reatha Údarás na Gaeltachta dhá chaitheamh ar iar-fhostaithe’, dar leis an Seanadóir Trevor Ó Clochartaigh.
Tháinig an t-eolas seo chun solais ag comhchoiste Oireachtais inniu, nuair a bhí na hAirí Jimmy Deenihan agus Dinny McGinley ag freagairt ceisteanna maidir le caiteachas na Roinne Ealaíon, Oidhreachta & Gaeltachta. I bhfreagra don Seanadóir as Gaillimh Thiar dhearbhaigh an tAire Stáit, as buiséad reatha de €9.8m i 2012 gur caitheadh €4.3m ar íocaíochtaí pinsin d’iarfhostaithe.
'‘Beag nar thit mé don chathaoir nuair a chuala mé go bhfuil beagnach leath don chaiteachas reatha ag dul ar íocaíochtaí do 136 duine nach bhfuil ag obair san Údarás níos mó. Ardaíonn sé seo ceisteanna go leor maidir le cé na rátaí pinsin atá dhá íoc, cé dó agus cé mhéad eagras Stáit eile a bhfuil sé seo ag tarlú ann. Cuireann sé na buiséad as riocht. Ní iontas nach bhfuil an tÚdarás ábalta feidhmiú níos éifeachtaí. Tá an Rialtas ag rá go bhfuil €9.8m dhá chaitheamh ar ghnóthaí Gaeltachta faoin Údarás, ach le fírinne níl dhá chaitheamh ach tuairim leath dó sin. Beidh mé ag lorg briseadh sios níos cruinne ar an gcaiteachas ollmhór seo’, a deir Ó Clochartaigh.
‘Tagann seo sa bhreis ar an eolas a tugadh gur déanadh gearradh siar 68% ar an gcaiteachas ar ghnóthaí Gaeltachta & oileánda faoin Roinn idir 2008 agus 2012. Tá seo éagóireach dar liom, mar nár gearradh siar buiséid eile ar an ráta ceanna. Ní féidir glacadh le tuilleadh ciorruithe san earnáil seo i bhfianaise an eolas seo’, a deir Seanadóir Shinn Féin, ‘mar go bhfuil ualach go leor dhá n-iompar ag pobal na Gaeilge & na Gaeltachta as ucht peacaí na mbainceirí’.
D’iarr an Seanadóir freisin ar na hAirí dearbhú go gcoinneofaí seirbhís aerthaisteal chuig oileáin Árainn, ach ní dhéanfaidís sin ach an oiread. ‘Dúirt siad freisin go bhfuil €3m dhá chaitheamh ar an Scéim Tacaíochta Teaghlaigh, ach is léir nach bhfuil seo fíor mar nach bhfuil ach 300 duine tar éis glacadh leis na pacáisti eolais a chuirtear ar fáil faoin scéim agus go bhfuiltear ag íoc as scéimeanna agus tograí eile as an gciste seo agus ag cur ciorruithe i bhfolach’, dar leis an gClochartach.
‘Tá an Rialtas seo ag déanamh dochar as cuímse do shaol agus todhchaí na Gaeltachta leis na ciorruithe atá siad ag déanamh ar na buiséid. Bíonn finscéalta dhá chraobhscaoileadh go bhfuil flúirse airgid dhá chaitheamh ar an nGaeltacht, ach léiríonn an t-eolas seo nach bhfuil an t-airgead atá ar fáil ag dul chomh fada leis na pobail ina dteastaíonn sé’, a deir Trevor Ó Clochartaigh.
_______________________
‘It is quite incredible that half of the current budget of Údarás na Gaeltachta is being spent on former employees’, according to Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh.
The information came to light at an Oireachtas Joint committee where Ministers Jimmy Deenihan and Dinny McGinley were answering questions about expenditure in the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. In his answer to the Galway West Senator the Minister of State confirmed that from a current budget of €9.8m in 2012 that €4.3m was spent on pension payments to former employees.
‘I nearly fell off the chair when I heard that almost half the current expenditure goes on pension payments to 136 people who are no longer employed by the organisation. This raises serious questions regarding the levels of monies being paid, who is receiving them and how many other State organisations are in a similar situation. This totally distorts the budget. Small wonder that the Údarás is not able to function more effectively. The Government are telling us that €9.8m is being spent on Gaeltacht affairs under the auspices of the Údarás, but in reality only half of that is being spent. I will be looking for a more detailed breakdown of this huge expenditure’, says Ó Clochartaigh.
‘This comes on foot of the other revelations at the committee that cutbacks of 68% have been made to the Gaeltacht and Islands budgets in the Department between 2008 and 2012. This is inequitable, I believe, because other budgets were not cut to the same extent. We cannot accept any further cuts in these areas in light of this information’, says the Sinn Féin Senator, ‘because Irish speakers and Gaeltacht residents have already shouldered their fair share of the burden for the sins of the bankers’.
The Senator also called on the Ministers to confirm that they would not cut the air service to the Aran islands, but they would not do that’. ‘They also said that €3m is being spent on the new Family Support Programme, even though only 300 support packs for the scheme have been sent out. Under closer scrutiny it became apparent that other projects are being funded from this budget and that the Government is using sleight of hand to hide cutbacks’, says Ó Clochartaigh.
‘This Government is doing untold damage to the life and future of the Gaeltacht with the cutbacks they are imposing. There are so many urban myths about the levels of grant aid being spent in the Gaeltacht, but this information shows that this is not the case and that the monies in question are not filtering down to the communities that need them to survive’,says Trevor Ó Clochartaigh.
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